Los Caprichos. Goya and DalÍ

Curators of the project are aiming at displaying series of satirical prints “Los Caprichos” created by both masters, by comparing their ideas and the contents of both series. Goya’s “Los Caprichos” dates back from the last decade of the 18th century – a complicated revolutionary period in Spain, while etchings produced by Dalí belong to the 20th-century aesthetics.

Francisco Goya (1746–1828) is a Spanish painter, drawer and engraver. His paintings are close to the works of his Italian contemporary Domenico Tiepolo, as well as his Spanish predecessors El Greco and Diego Velasquez. Goya’s works on paper constitute an important part of his legacy and reflect his mastery in the art of etchings.

By 1799, Goya created a series of engravings “Los Caprichos” with 80 graphic sheets. These are original prints followed by annotations dedicated to denunciation of human vices, religious prejudice and society’s misconceptions. This series includes such pieces as “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters”, “Love and Death”, “There Was no Help”, “Now That’s Reading”, “Might Not the Pupil Know More?”, as well as the engraving “Francisco Goya y Lucientes, Painter”.

Goya’s oeuvre had a major influence on the European art of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1977, Salvador Dalí (1904­–1989) presented his first version of “Los Caprichos” series based on Goya’s etchings, but colored and completed with surrealist visions in his characteristic manner. Dalí not only renamed the compositions but also filled many of them with different sense.

The two series of etchings displayed together will allow the viewers to enjoy the fine mastery of Francisco Goya, provide a deeper understanding of the sense of “Los Caprichos”, and present an artistic remark to this series produced by Salvador Dalí.